At this stage we need to identify the elements of static harmony that will make up the opening section of phrases and also any static harmony that prolongs the dominant or tonic of the cadence.

Bars 1, 2 and 3 contain constituents of the tonic chord: A, C-sharp, C-sharp A, A. Harmonisation of each of these notes as chord I in A major with auxiliary chords interspersed creates just over two bars of opening section static harmony. This is just over half of the length of the 4 bar phrase. I have in practice created static harmony as far as the second A only, partly to give more space to the dynamic harmony prior to the cadence and partly to avoid a perfect cadence at a point where the top voice rises to the tonic note at the start of a bar. It would be too early in the phrase for such a strong perfect cadence in the tonic.

The D to B third in the first bar suggests chord II as a possible auxiliary chord. Chord II is also suitable for use as the auxiliary chord at bar 2 beat 2. This chord also sets the mood for the brief modulation to the supertonic at bar 6. There is no reason why we should not underscore the static harmony by a tonic pedal. This converts chord II to a 7th chord and binds together two chords which would otherwise not have any notes in common. (See book: Example 2.4.).

Having arrived at a cadence on E we now seek the opportunity to extend the final tonic of the phrase by the use of static harmony on the E chord. It is possible is to extend the E harmony to the end of the bar. An arpeggiation of the bass helps to add variety. This acts as a brief static coda to the first phrase. Although brief, this is longer than the prevailing harmonic rhythm which is emerging as two chords per bar.

As the start of the second phrase does not lend itself to static harmony, the next opportunity is to examine the final dominant chord and establish whether it is possible to commence the dominant harmony earlier in the phase by the use of static harmony on the dominant, thus creating a dominant prolongation. This works well - the 3rd beat in bar 6 harmonises as E major and beat 1 of bar 7 harmonises as chord I which is the most commonly used auxiliary chord in dominant prolongations. As both tonic and dominant chords contain the dominant note we again have the opportunity to underline the static harmony with a pedal note - in this case a dominant pedal.

See Chapter 2 and Chapter 5 for more information on static harmony.